Jailed Lula still the favorite in Brazil

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has been in jail since last week, is still leading presidential election choices ahead of the vote in October, according to a new poll.

According to the poll by the Datafolha Institute, 31 percent of Brazilians would vote for him, if he was legally able to stand, more than double the 15 percent favoring the far-right candidate, Jair Bolsonaro, and the 10 percent choosing former environment minister, Marina Silva.
President Michel Temer, who is allegedly mulling a run for re-election, would garner just 1 percent.

However, in the likely scenario that Lula will not be a candidate, Bolsonaro, a retired soldier who has spoken fondly of Brazil’s military dictatorship, would see his share rise to 17 percent, according to the poll.

Marina Silva would remain in second place on 15 percent, with Ciro Gomes, another popular left-wing choice, rising to 9 percent.

The poll was taken after Lula turned himself in to police between April 11-13, interviewing 4,194 people in 227 Brazilian municipalities.

Lula was arrested on April 7 to start a 12 year and one month prison sentence, after being found guilty of corruption and money laundering within the Petrobras corruption case.

According to Brazilian law, no politician found guilty of a criminal charge can stand for election. Despite this, Lula’s Workers’ Party (PT) has said it is not considering replacing him at the top of the ticket.

Lula was accused of receiving a luxury apartment along the coast of Sao Paulo from construction company, OAS S.A., as a bribe in exchange for favoring the firm with public Petrobras contracts.